


Deltarune - Empty

by CatInATrashCan



Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: /shrug, Childhood Trauma, Gen, I'll stop with the tags now, Suicidal Thoughts, i don't have a set plot so here we go, maybe an au? idk lol, oof, uh what, vent art, we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-14 08:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16909269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatInATrashCan/pseuds/CatInATrashCan
Summary: There isn't one.  My summaries don't matter.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I'm doing! Yay!
> 
> Just kinda bear with me; I didn't flesh out the girl before I started writing, so if her character is kinda meh, she'll get better, I promise. I'm improvising everything in here on a whim. We'll see where the heck this goes lol
> 
> (fite me, plot holes will happen and it's flipping ok dangit)

That was it.

She wanted to end it, there and then.  Nothing mattered anymore, much less herself.  How could a child like she ever be something important, or significant?  Had she even touched anyone’s life for the better?

_ No,  _ she thought.   _ I am a nothing.  And it’s going to stay that way. _

That is, until a hearty knock stirred her from her personal capital punishment for existing.

Raw fear tore her away from what would have been a forced appointment with death.  The startle spurred her instincts to rip the noose she would have used from the ceiling and untie it in seconds.   _ No one has to know.  No one will ever know.   _ Whatever efervescent shock was present died, a mere phantom as she approached her front door; it was all over.

Her breath was still uneasy and her hand quaked as she stretched it toward the knob.  Inhale, exhale. She opened the door and--

“Kris?”

They nodded.  They never said much, if anything, but would always gesture to communicate.  Their unruly bangs draped lazily over their face and conveniently covered their eyes.  For a brief moment, she wondered if they left their hair that way to protect the others from the intensity of their gaze.

An anxious giggle bubbled from her throat.  “Wh-what’re you doing here? Haha, I could have sworn you were still doing homework…  Y’know,  _ at home.” _

And then they spoke.

“I want to bring you to my house.”


	2. Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick setup for the real adventure :)

What on Earth could Kris have wanted with her?  Her mind ignited with questions that burned deep into her heart.  She had to admit, she was a little apprehensive. Kris never talked to  _ anyone.   _ Kris could be the messenger of a teacher’s worry, on some stupid monster dare, or worse—playing a sick joke.  Knots began to tie themselves at the expense of her stomach.

“So, um…”  She groped around for words.  But none came.

Kris’s head swiveled a little; they were glancing at her.  When she didn’t continue, it turned forward as quickly as it had done to face her.

A shiver shook her from head to toe.

The walk stretched into an eternity.  Silence left a thick layer of unease betwixt them.  Yet Kris was unwilling to say more than they had to, and she was unwilling to fumble for useless conversation.  The girl began to distract herself with the views beside her, but her eyes were shifty at best. Some shocked stares stalked them across the street.  Despite her best efforts to ignore them, she still shivered with shame.

~~~

When Kris rapped on their door, she found herself shrinking before it, even though no one had yet answered.  Her eyes found the porch suddenly quite intriguing.

Inside, good Toriel sat.  Chairiel hefted her weight with its usual vigor.  Kris’s knock stirred her from her seat, and she benevolently opened the door—though not before double-checking that it was them through her peeky hole.

“Why, hello again Kris!”  Toriel’s bright, cheerful eyes greeted the girl with a great pleasure.  “And who might your friend be?”

Kris smiled slightly, but not much.  Even their face hadn’t the capacity to express their mind.

The sheepish girl hardly dared to make eye contact, a dusting of blush lighting upon her cheeks.  “I-I’m… hnn…”

She trailed off.

“What’s that?”  Toriel effortlessly kept her tone light and friendly.  She was curious, in fact, that Kris had brought another female home.   _ I hope he isn’t thinking of romance too early! _

Then again, considering Kris’s glum disposition, perhaps that wouldn’t be such a disaster.

Toriel shooed the thought from her head.  “Speak up, dear child.”

Again, the girl stuttered.  No one ever asked her for her name, other than her teachers.  She was thankful she hadn’t had Toriel, because she could hardly handle the attention.

Toriel placed a mother’s graceful hand on the child’s shoulder.  “It’s alright. I won’t force it.”

“I-I’m Rali,” she finally murmured, a breath nearly drowned in the rising wind.

“Rali,” Toriel echoed.  “That’s a beautiful name.”

“Th-thank you…”

Kris nodded, their signal to Toriel that they wished to come inside.  Their adopted mother graciously allowed entrance. Rali still swept her own hair in front of her face as if she could rid herself of visibility.

Perhaps it was, rather, an emulation of Kris.

“Upstairs,” Kris said.  It jarred Rali, who hadn’t been expecting any more talk.

They led her into their bedroom, the one they used to share with their beloved brother, Asriel.

_ Suppress it, _ they commanded themself.

Though it was no less than a feat to do so with Asriel’s glory on the wall.

“So, Kris…  What did you want me—”

Susie’s brutish frame stressed the wall.

Rali only barely suppressed a terrified squeak.

Susie flicked her bangs out of her face. “Who the heck is this?”

Rali let her hair conceal an eye as she allowed herself to shrivel beneath the pink monster’s intense gaze.  “I-I—”

“I can’t hear you.”  An impatient glare.

“R-Rali.”

“What?”

“I-I’m Rali.”

“Rali?  That’s a weirder name than Kris.”  Susie shrugged. “But hey, what the heck?”  A snort.

Rali shrank, eyes fixated on the rug with a strange symbol on it.   _ I don’t want to be here… _

“We’re going back, right?”  Susie’s gaze flickered betwixt the humans, but the query was for Kris.

They nod.  It was their only response.

“Back… where?” Rali whispered to both.

“To the Dark World.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * The crisp air chilling your bones fills you with ominous foreshadowing.


	3. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, since you guys seem to be liking this so much, I decided to add another chapter! ^-^ Forgive me if it's short, but once the action starts, things'll likely lengthen out.

Rali’s eyes grew wide.  “D-Dark World?” she squeaked.  “That sounds, uh… Scary.”

Susie smirked.  Her hair flipped to the side to reveal her gleaming golden eyes.  “What, you can’t handle it? Are you chicken?”

The human girl shied back just a little more.

Kris gave Susie the signal to take it down a notch.

“Well, I guess it can be if you don’t know what the heck it is.  But don’t worry ‘bout it. We’ve got your back.” Susie grinned, a toothy smile that left her fangs in plain view.  They startled Rali, whose poor heart fainted within her. “If Kris thinks you’re cool enough to come, then that’s good enough for me.”

A hint of a smile from Kris.

Rali was quaking at this point, and she expected her knees to buckle beneath her weight.  Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of her face; was she melting?  _ I can’t go to some dark world!  _ she wanted to shriek.   _ Not with a monster who could break me a hundred times over!  Not with— _

Kris placed a firm hand on her shoulder and squeezed slightly.  They didn’t speak, but their actions did provide a sliver of comfort.  Their soft hint of a grin slowed her storming thoughts.

Rali composed herself and gloriously failed to appear as fearless as Susie.

Kris nodded at the monster, whose lips curled upward mischievously.  They came to the silent agreement to bring her into their secret world.

~~~

How Kris had convinced Toriel to go back to the school late was a complete and nebulous miracle to Rali.  She hadn’t realized that the soft-spoken kid had such persuasive power.

Yet there they were.  The threesome of outcasts casually heading for the school building as the sun began to crawl toward the west end of the sky.

Kris jingled their mother’s building keys by spinning the key ring around their index finger.  A mischievous grin worthy of a villain spread as butter across his face.  _ We’re gonna be there all night,  _ they cheered to themself.   _ Just like-- _

Old times.  There would be none of those.

They sighed.  Whatever happiness was briefly evident had vanished without a trace.  Even a whisper of a thought was enough to trigger grief.

_ He left me here, alone… _

“So, what’s this Dark World like?” Rali finally queried.  It was hardly more than a hushed murmur, but it was enough for the others to register.  “I mean, is it just dark, like all black? Or what?”

Susie guffawed, head thrown back and her faded violet hair floating in the night-bound breeze.  Her free hand unconsciously pressed itself against her stomach. “All black?! No way. How the heck did you even come up with that?  The Dark World is  _ way  _ cooler than that!  It’s full of badical monsters and weapons and stuff!”

“M-monsters…?”  Rali slowed, gulped audibly.   _ Do I want to see more creatures than I already have? _

“Don’t worry, they’re actually pretty chill when you get them to realize their king is a total dirtbag.”  Susie lifted her head with a prideful air about her pompous stride. “You’ll like them, if you aren’t too chicken.”

Rali’s gaze sought some insight from Kris, but they only shrugged.  It was something she would have to experience for herself.

As the school approached, an electric tension charged within them.  It caused eager Susie to grin with satisfaction; Kris became fidgety as the front door greeted them.  Rali felt an immense urge to turn back, and she hesitated, but soon reasoning and curiosity won out. Why leave when someone was actually willingly being  _ nice  _ to her?  Besides, this Dark World might be a great refuge.

And she’d take any chance she could get to escape from the harsh onslaught of reality.

**Author's Note:**

> * The sound of a sleepy author taking a break so the next chapter can be gud fills you with... something.


End file.
